We have a small conference room in our gym that looks out onto the training area. Depending upon the day, it can be the perfect place to get some of the back end gym work done.

Like now. I’m sitting here in the empty gym writing this blog.

Soon our coaches and athletes will start to arrive for the 9:30 class. I’ll stay here during that class to get some work done, but inevitably my attention will be drawn to an athlete getting coaching on the floor.

It’s a simple process, really–our coach notices a deviation in movement or purpose and then helps the athlete correct course–but it’s far from easy. There are double digit considerations that go into correction: is this something to do privately?, can others learn from it?, is there something else I want the athlete to focus on?, do I need to stop the movement right now or are the repetitions still safe?, and many more.

These questions need to be triaged quickly because good coaching almost always strikes when the iron is hot. In this regard it is much more like teaching than motivation, although great coaching does both.

Watching this process done well is truly a joy for me. Not just because I’m proud of our coaches but also because it’s a great reminder that small, good things done well are the backbone of progress.

We fall for the ten thousand foot view–the transformation, the 1000th day vs. the 1st–but we often forget that every great story is comprised of manifold chapters and every journey is a compendium of steps.

Great coaching is everything, but most of all it’s one small thing at a time.